Tampa Mega Church Pastor Blames Media and Remains Defiant After Arrest; Florida Governor Declares Church Is Essential

The Florida pastor, who was hauled in by cops for hosting a megachurch service despite quarantine and stay-at-home orders, is defending his actions insisting he’s done NOTHING wrong.

According to TMZ, Rodney Howard-Browne, the Tampa-area minister, took to his own social media telecast shortly after being released last Monday to tell his side of the story. Defending why he put hundreds of people’s lives at risk by hosting his megachurch service.

Pastor Browne went off on the media, suggesting a lot of outlets were hyping the threat of coronavirus and fear-mongering to get everyone scared and panicked with fear of a pandemic.

He defended his actions by saying he was simply exercising his First Amendment right — i.e., freedom of religion and separation of church and state.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

“This is not about a virus; this is about the church being an essential service to the community where the church can meet and take care of the people,” the pastor said.

And it turns out the Governor agreed. On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared churches as essential businesses, which helps bolster the megachurch pastor’s claims.

DeSantis issued clear, statewide guidelines on what is and isn’t essential businesses amid in his quarantine order, listing places of worship as one of them.